1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device and method for applying shingles to the ridge and hips of a roof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Considerable time is spent aligning the shingles which are place upon the areas where two generally planar sections of a roof meet to form an acute angle between the bottoms of such sections. The line formed where such sections meet at a high point of the roof is termed the ridge. Lines extending downward from the ridge formed where such planar sections meet are termed hips.
Various types of shingles exist that have been designed to be applied individually to the ridge of a roof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,929 covers a two-play shingle which has a third ply laminated to the top of one end of the shingle and which can be folded along its longitudinal middle.
A foldable, rigid shingle is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,771.
The shingle of U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,340 consists an inverted V-shaped top cover sheet and a tapered inverted V-shaped substrate which may optionally contain an adhesive that will melt under solar heating to cause the substrate to adhere to the underlying surface more than will just the nails that attach the shingle to the underlying surface.
All the preceding types of shingles, however, suffer from the same disadvantage discussed above, viz., it takes considerable time to align them in a satisfactory manner.
Another group of patented roofing material for the ridges of roofs minimizes this difficulty concerning alignment by consisting of a much larger structure than a single shingle which is designed to appear to be composed of separate shingles. This group includes the devices of U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,357 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,387. Close inspection will, however, disclose that there are not separate shingles, causing the device to be considered an imitation.
The invention of U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,970 is simply one or more rows of traditional shingles attached to xe2x80x9ca sheet-like base 11 which is preferably made of plywood, particle board or other material that is weather resistant and adequate for sheathing.xe2x80x9d The disclosure and claims for this invention do not suggest that the invention is applicable to ridges and hips of roofs.
The roof venting system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,672 places an air-permeable mat over an open slot along the ridge of a roof and covers such mat with roof shingles xe2x80x9claid in overlapping rows in the conventional manner . . . .xe2x80x9d
The xe2x80x9cimproved shake roof linerxe2x80x9d of U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,553 appears to have rows of felt flaps secured to an underlayment. Traditional shingles are secured to the underlayment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,222 uses an adhesive to connect adjacent shingle in a sheet of shingles.
The present invention uses a series of shingles arranged in a generally straight line.
Each shingle has a top, a bottom, a first edge and a second edge. The tops of adjacent shingles are generally aligned with one another, and the bottoms of adjacent shingles are generally aligned with one another. The second edge of each shingle overlaps and is above the first edge of any immediately subsequent shingle. In the overlapping area of adjacent shingles, the prior shingle is attached to the subsequent shingle with two or more mechanical fasteners so that the adjacent shingles cannot rotate with respect to one another. However, the corners of the second edge are left unattached so that nails can be inserted in the subsequent shingle to fasten the subsequent shingle to the roof. Preferably, tar or a substance with similar melting and adhesive properties is also in the corners of adjacent shingles to use solar energy to seal the prior shingle to the subsequent shingle after the nails have been inserted.
The series of shingles, thus, forms a sheet which can be manipulated more readily and faster than can individuals shingles. All the desirable properties, such as appearance, of individual shingles are, however, retained.
And the installation technique is essentially the same as for individual shingles, viz., nails are inserted through the shingles into the roof. There is no need to deal with a base below the shingles.
The mechanical fasteners are preferably situated off the longitudinal center of the sheet so that they will not be placed on the very apex of the ridge or hip.